The First 48: Missing Persons: American Documentary TV Series

The First 48 is an American documentary television series that airs on A&E. Filmed in various cities in the United States, the series offers an insider's look at the real-life world of homicide investigators. While the cinema-verite series often follows the investigations to their end, it usually focuses on their first 48 hours, hence the title.
While most cases are solved within the first 48 hours, some go on days, weeks, or months after the first 48. The shortest investigation was led by Det. Brenda Wescott, who arrested a suspect, just 6 hours into the investigation.
In 2006, the series was nominated for a Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award, in the Continuing Series category, by the International Documentary Association, eventually losing out to American Experience.
Dion Graham is featured as the narrator, and is the only member of the cast to be in every one of the episodes.
On March 3, 2009, it was renewed for its 9th season by A&E, and currently[when?] has 152 episodes. By season 6, The First 48 had become the highest rated non-fiction justice series on American television, and had gained considerable critical acclaim along with controversy. The season 8 premiere on January 1, 2009 garnered a domestic audience of 2.3 million viewers making it the series' most watched episode, thus far.
Each episode picks one or more homicides in different cities, covering each alternately, showing how detectives use forensic evidence, witness interviews and other advanced detective skills to identify suspects.
The First 48: Missing Persons Season 1 Episode 5 (Worried Sick; Silent Night) airs: Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 10:00pm EDT on A & E Network. Synopsis of the episode: A 17-year-old teen and her child are missing; an elderly man vanishes en route to a Christmas party.